


Overhearing

by Zee_McZed



Category: Archie Comics
Genre: Estimated writing time - 45 minutes, F/F, Flash Fic, Fluff, Mildly Suggestive, Overheard Conversations, Pop hears a lot of stuff, Teenage goofiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25842319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zee_McZed/pseuds/Zee_McZed
Summary: You hear a lot of things behind the counter at a diner.Pop Tate knows that well.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Veronica Lodge
Comments: 5
Kudos: 48





	Overhearing

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where this came from. Written in approximately 45 minutes. Not edited. Enjoy.

Pop Tate knew awkward when he saw it. And he knew that what he saw was a mother lode of awkward. Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge came in together. That was no surprise. They were besties, and had some kind of weird rivalry-slash-tension that he could never entirely decipher. He'd seen a lot that was like it over the years, but he didn't think they quite fit into the categories he'd seen. Maybe. Didn't seem likely. A few minutes later, Archie showed up. Good kid. Dumb, but nice. He was dating both of them, and they were both okay with it. 

Yeah, not a usual setup nowadays, but they all seemed okay with it. 

So the situation wasn't unusual, but the way they were carrying themselves was. Ronnie, she was Hiram Lodge's daughter. Old money, and she knew how to carry herself. She looked like someone had kicked her puppy, and that was a trick, `cause she didn't have one. Betty wasn't big on deceit or holding back her emotions, so Pop could normally read her really well, and today it looked like she was really being careful to guard those. And Archie looked... well he looked confused and fidgety, but that wasn't new for Archie. Kid needed to cut back on the sodas. Not that Pop was gonna say that, not when he was about to order. 

"So." Archie broke the tension first. The girls spoke up, but quiet enough that Pop couldn't hear them. Excuses, maybe? Something embarrassing. Pop kept wiping out the inside of a milkshake cup, not looking up from it. Archie raised both hands. 

"I'm not that naive." He said. Silence reigned. "And ya know it explains a lot!" 

"Well..." Ronnie flipped her hair back. Looked like she was trying to regain her composure. "I mean it's not a slight on anyone."

"I figured. You like who you like. Can't help that." He shrugged. "The only thing I was wondering about was whether you meant to get caught!" Caught? Hoo. Maybe he HAD seen that kinda tension before. 

"No." Betty folded her hands, elbows propped on the table. "I mean, things just... got away from us." 

"I gathered." Archie's tone was suddenly at British sitcom levels of dryness. Both girls looked a little uncomfortable. "Look, I'm not mad. Are you going to be happy together?" DING DING DING, Pop had definitely seen that kind of thing before, and it still surprised him just a little. Well - for Veronica. Betty he could see. Ronnie, though... just did not see that coming. 

"Yeah." Betty said it. But it was Veronica that plunked her head down on the blonde's shoulder. 

"Then I'm happy for you. You goobers." Archie grinned. "Just don't let yourself get 'carried away' at the beach anymore, maybe?"

"Would have been fine if the tide hadn't carried my top away." Veronica mumbled.

"Or if you'd noticed it when it happened instead of five minutes later." Betty added. Pop nearly dropped the milkshake cup. 

"Or if you had been able to keep a lid on it. I think the whole beach heard you..." Veronica quipped back. Pop did drop the steel tumbler, and had to drop down to pick it up. He was aware of the three teenagers looking in his direction. The silence was palpable. He stayed down in a squat, pretending that his back was bothering him and it was taking him a second to get up (an obvious ruse, but one he used well enough). It still took them a second to continue. 

"...well." Archie mumbled. "The, uh, beach incident aside, mazel tov? And..."

"And?" Betty prodded. 

"Think you'd be up for a double date sometime?" The tension broke, and the trio was chatting like nothing had ever happened. Talking about... well Pop didn't know what exactly they were talking about anymore, but they were planning on doing something already, and that was all that mattered. Betty was leaning on her elbows, Veronica had her posture perfect again, and Archie was curling back against the booth in that way that he did, settling in and getting cozy. He pulled out an order pad and slid along the counter a little closer, ready for whatever they wanted.

You hear a lotta stuff behind the counter of a diner.

Sometimes it's things you don't need to hear. Things that make you question whether you're in the right business, or whether you need to crank up the jukebox to the point where no one can hear, or things that make you want to start grabbing people by the ear to chuck `em into the street.

And sometimes? Sometimes you hear something that makes you realize that things are going okay, that the kids you serve all the time are doing okay, and it makes it all worth the long hours, middling profit margin, insane clientele, and Forsythe "Jughead" Jones' insane burger binges. 

Sometimes. 


End file.
